District Administration MagazineJust a few years ago, CIOs — if they were involved in data analytics at all — would run a report, export it into an Excel document and create a chart or a graph to share with teachers and district leaders once a week, or at the end of each semester. Now it's all about creating systems that aggregate and sort data automatically, making it easier for educators to view crucial information every day. "The CIO is really becoming more of a leadership position," says Elizabeth Dabney, director of research and policy analysis at the Data Quality Campaign.READ MORE

EdTech MagazineAs schools look forward to what's next in education, they are finding that the future holds even more technology. Education Week estimated that by the end of last year's school year, one-to-one computing devices were available to about half of U.S. K-12 students. During EdTech's latest K-12 webinar, "Is Your Network Ready for 1:1 and BYOD?", three experts offered advice on how to prepare a school's network infrastructure (including wireless networking and other critical back-end tools) to support a variety of new devices.READ MORE

Education WorldA new technology survey of 2,500 U.S. educators has revealed some interesting findings when it comes to what devices teachers are specifically using to facilitate student learning. According to the survey from Front Row Education, Chromebook sales are up 15 percent. All in all, 60 percent of surveyed educators said they have access to the device. While Chromebook use has seemingly been increasing year after year, iPad use is declining.READ MORE

THE JournalThe United States Department of Education's Office of Inspector General has found in a recent report that the department's overall information technology security is "not generally effective" in meeting several federal requirements. The ed department and its Federal Student Aid office scored only 53 points out of 100 in a recent security audit. The report found that during a fiscal year 2016 audit, the ED was not generally effective in the following three security functions: protect, detect and respond. READ MORE

eSchool NewsAccessibility is a "critical key" when it comes to leveraging technology for all students — including those with disabilities, according to a new toolkit offering accessibility resources and tips for state and district education leaders. Accessibility refers to ensuring materials, devices, digital tools and platforms are designed to provide equal educational opportunity for all students, as well as to accommodate the learning needs of students with different abilities, according to the toolkit from CoSN, the American Institutes of Research and the Center on Technology and Disability.READ MORE

.

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Securing The Digital Classroom RapidIdentity, from Identity Automation, secures millions of students worldwide, providing schools and school districts with automated provisioning to today's top learning applications, single sign-on (SSO) to hundreds of web applications, self-service accounts, password resets, and more. Learn more about RapidIdentity for K-12 and request a free product tour today.

EdudemicThe concept of 1-to-1 computing (sometimes referred to as 1:1) has been around since the late 1990s. However, with the proliferation of inexpensive devices, as well as changes in education requirements and technological developments, the practice is gaining renewed momentum. With this fresh interest in 1-to-1 computing, it's important for educators to understand what the practice offers and why some are skeptical.READ MORE

EdTech MagazineFor Huntley Community School District 158, technology is a major part of everyday learning. All 9,600 students have a school-issued Chromebook, allowing the district to boast the largest one-to-one computing program in all of Illinois. During EdTech: Focus on K–12's latest webinar, "Is Your Network Ready for 1:1 and BYOD?," Huntley IT director Chris Budzynski explained how creating a flexible network with Cisco Meraki was key to the district's technological success. Here are four benefits.READ MORE

THE JournalThe vast majority of teachers are using technology daily with their students, and most say their use of technology will increase even more next year, according to a new study involving 2,500 K–12 teachers. The study, conducted by adaptive learning provider Front Row Education, found that 75 percent of teachers use technology with students on a daily basis and that a bit more than half have a 1-to-1 ratio of devices to students in their classrooms (up 10 points from last year's survey). That increase in student devices is helping to drive an increase in the use of technology, with about 60 percent of teachers surveyed saying they expect to increase the use of technology in the 2016–2017 school year.READ MORE

K-12 TechDecisionClassroom display technology has a longer history than some may think. Starting as early as 1925, classrooms regularly used film strip projectors to show educational content, and by the 1960's, overhead projectors became the industry standard. Today, classrooms use a wide variety of technology to present content to students. Below are six things to consider when purchasing A/V technology that can help you get the right technology to support learning.READ MORE

.

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Video Lessons Made EasyVideo lessons give students better chances at grasping concepts and retaining material. Leveraging existing presentations and scripting your lesson plans is the way to go. 30hands Storyteller makes the process easy and fun.
Check out 30hands Pro for the iPad and 30hands Web for Chromebooks and browsers. 781-982-9555

THE JournalCompared to 10 other comparably sized school districts in California, the one in Nevada City pays more for its Internet and gets less. While the three-school district pays $175 per month for 1.5 megabits per second, Maxwell Unified in Colusa pays $149 for 500 Mbps. El Centro Elementary pays $54 for 12 Mbps. On the wide area network side, the district pays $1,379 for 100 Mbps of bandwidth compared to $405 for 16 gigabits per second at Chico Unified and $1,232 for Sonoma Valley Unified's 3 Gbps.READ MORE